M A T T H E W.

CHAP. VII.

This chapter continues and concludes Christ's
sermon on the mount, which is purely practical, directing us to
order our conversation aright, both toward God and man; for the
design of the Christian religion is to make men good, every way
good. We have, I. Some rules concerning censure and reproof,
ver. 1-6. II.
Encouragements given us to pray to God for what we need, ver. 7-11. III. The necessity of
strictness in conversation urged upon us, ver. 12-14. IV. A caution given us to take
heed of false prophets, ver.
15-20. V. The conclusion of the whole sermon, showing
the necessity of universal obedience to Christ's commands, without
which we cannot expect to be happy, ver. 21-27. VI. The impression which
Christ's doctrine made upon his hearers, ver. 28, 29.

The Sermon on the Mount.

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For
with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And
why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but
considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how
wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine
eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou
hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then
shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's
eye. 6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither
cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under
their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Our Saviour is here directing us how to
conduct ourselves in reference to the faults of others; and his
expressions seem intended as a reproof to the scribes and
Pharisees, who were very rigid and severe, very magisterial and
supercilious, in condemning all about them, as those commonly are,
that are proud and conceited in justifying themselves. We have
here,

I. A caution against judgingv. 1, 2. There are
those whose office it is to judge-magistrates and ministers.
Christ, though he made not himself a Judge, yet came not to unmake
them, for by him princes decree justice; but this is
directed to private persons, to his disciples, who shall hereafter
sit on thrones judging, but not now. Now observe,

1. The prohibition; Judge not. We
must judge ourselves, and judge our own acts, but we must not judge
our brother, not magisterially assume such an authority over
others, as we allow not them over us: since our rule is, to be
subject to one another. Be not many masters,Jam. iii. 1. We must not sit
in the judgment-seat, to make our word a law to every body. We must
not judge our brother, that is, we must not speak evil of
him, so it is explained, Jam. iv.
11. We must not despise him, nor set him at
nought, Rom. xiv. 10.
We must not judge rashly, nor pass such a judgment upon our brother
as has no ground, but is only the product of our own jealousy and
ill nature. We must not make the worst of people, nor infer such
invidious things from their words and actions as they will not
bear. We must not judge uncharitably, unmercifully, nor with a
spirit of revenge, and a desire to do mischief. We must not judge
of a man's state by a single act, nor of what he is in himself by
what he is to us, because in our own cause we are apt to be
partial. We must not judge the hearts of others, nor their
intentions, for it is God's prerogative to try the heart, and we
must not step into his throne; nor must we judge of their eternal
state, nor call them hypocrites, reprobates, and
castaways; that is stretching beyond our line; what have we
to do, thus to judge another man's servant? Counsel him, and help
him, but do not judge him.

2. The reason to enforce this prohibition.
That ye be not judged. This intimates, (1.) That if we
presume to judge others, we may expect to be ourselves judged. He
who usurps the bench, shall be called to the bar; he shall be
judged of men; commonly none are more censured, than those who are
most censorious; every one will have a stone to throw at them; he
who, like Ishmael, has his hand, his tongue, against every
man, shall, like him, have every man's hand and tongue
against him (Gen. xvi.
12); and no mercy shall be shown to the reputation of
those that show no mercy to the reputation of others. Yet that is
not the worst of it; they shall be judged of God; from him they
shall receive the greater condemnation, Jam. iii. 1. Both parties must appear before
him (Rom. xiv. 10), who, as
he will relieve the humble sufferer, will also resist the
haughty scorner, and give him enough of judging. (2.) That
if we be modest and charitable in our censures of others, and
decline judging them, and judge ourselves rather, we shall not
be judged of the Lord. As God will forgive those that forgive
their brethren; so he will not judge those that will not judge
their brethren; the merciful shall find mercy. It is an
evidence of humility, charity, and deference to God, and shall be
owned and rewarded by him accordingly. See Rom. xiv. 10.

The judging of those that judge others is
according to the law of retaliation; With what judgment ye
judge, ye shall be judged, v.
2. The righteous God, in his judgments, often observes a
rule of proportion, as in the case of Adonibezek, Judg. i. 7. See also Rev. xiii. 10; xviii. 6. Thus
will he be both justified and magnified in his judgments, and all
flesh will be silenced before him. With what measure ye mete, it
shall be measured to you again; perhaps in this world, so that
men may read their sin in their punishment. Let this deter us from
all severity in dealing with our brother. What shall we do when
God rises up? Job xxxi.
14. What would become of us, if God should be as exact
and severe in judging us, as we are in judging our brethren; if he
should weigh us in the same balance? We may justly expect it, if we
be extreme to mark what our brethren do amiss. In this, as in other
things, the violent dealings of men return upon their own
heads.

II. Some cautions about reproving.
Because we must not judge others, which is a great sin, it does not
therefore follow that we must not reprove others, which is a great
duty, and may be a means of saving a soul from death;
however, it will be a means of saving our souls from sharing in
their guilt. Now observe here,

1. It is not every one who is fit to
reprove. Those who are themselves guilty of the same faults of
which they accuse others, or of worse, bring shame upon themselves,
and are not likely to do good to those whom they reprove, v. 3-5. Here is,

(1.) A just reproof to the censorious, who
quarrel with their brother for small faults, while they allow
themselves in great ones; who are quick-sighted to spy a
mote in his eye, but are not sensible of a beam in their
own; nay, and will be very officious to pull out the mote
out of his eye, when they are as unfit to do it as if they were
themselves quite blind. Note, [1.] There are degrees in sin: some
sins are comparatively but as motes, others as beams;
some as a gnat, others as a camel: not that there is
any sin little, for there is no little God to sin against; if it be
a mote (or splinter, for so it might better be read),
it is in the eye; if a gnat, it is in the throat; both
painful and perilous, and we cannot be easy or well till they are
got out. [2.] Our own sins ought to appear greater to us than the
same sins in others: that which charity teaches us to call but a
splinter in our brother's eye, true repentance and godly
sorrow will teach us to call a beam in our own; for the sins
of others must be extenuated, but our own aggravated. [3.] There
are many that have beams in their own eyes, and yet do not
consider it. They are under the guilt and dominion of very great
sins, and yet are not aware of it, but justify themselves, as if
they needed no repentance nor reformation; it is as strange that a
man can be in such a sinful, miserable condition, and not be aware
of it, as that a man should have a beam in him eye, and not
consider it; but the god of this world so artfully blinds their
minds, that notwithstanding, with great assurance, they say, We
see. [4.] It is common for those who are most sinful
themselves, and least sensible of it, to be most forward and free
in judging and censuring others: the Pharisees, who were most
haughty in justifying themselves, were most scornful in condemning
others. They were severe upon Christ's disciples for eating with
unwashen hands, which was scarcely a mote, while they
encouraged men in a contempt of their parents, which was a
beam. Pride and uncharitableness are commonly beams
in the eyes of those that pretend to be critical and nice in their
censures of others. Nay, many are guilty of that secret, which they
have the face to punish in others when it is discovered. Cogita
tecum, fortasse vitium de quo quereris, si te diligenter
excusseris, in sinu invenies; inique publico irasceris crimini
tuo—Reflect that perhaps the fault of which you complain, might,
on a strict examination, be discovered in yourself; and that it
would be unjust publicly to express indignation against your own
crime. Seneca, de Beneficiis. But, [5.] Men's being so
severe upon the faults of others, while they are indulgent of their
own, is a mark of hypocrisy. Thou hypocrite, v. 5. Whatever such a one may
pretend, it is certain that he is no enemy to sin (if he were, he
would be an enemy to his own sin), and therefore he is not worthy
of praise; nay, it appears that he is an enemy to his brother, and
therefore worthy of blame. This spiritual charity must begin at
home; "For how canst thou say, how canst thou for shame say,
to thy brother, Let me help to reform thee, when thou takest
no care to reform thyself? Thy own heart will upbraid thee with the
absurdity of it; thou wilt do it with an ill grace, and thou wilt
expect every one to tell thee, that vice corrects sin:
physician, heal thyself;" I præ, sequar—Go you before, I will
follow. See Rom. ii. 21.
[6.] The consideration of what is amiss in ourselves, though it
ought not to keep us from administering friendly reproof, ought to
keep us from magisterial censuring, and to make us very candid and
charitable in judging others. "Therefore restore with the spirit
of meekness, considering thyself (Gal. vi. 1); what thou has been, what thou art,
and what thou wouldst be, if God should leave thee to thyself."

(2.) Here is a good rule for reprovers,
v. 5. Go in the right
method, first cast the beam out of thine own eye. Our own
badness is so far from excusing us in not reproving, that our being
by it rendered unfit to reprove is an aggravation of our badness; I
must not say, "I have a beam in my own eye, and therefore I
will not help my brother with the mote out of his." A man's
offence will never be his defence: but I must first
reform myself, that I may thereby help to reform my brother, and
may qualify myself to reprove him. Note, Those who blame others,
ought to be blameless and harmless themselves. Those who are
reprovers in the gate, reprovers by office, magistrates and
ministers, are concerned to walk circumspectly, and to be
very regular in their conversation: an elder must have a good
report, 1 Tim. iii. 2,
7. The snuffers of the sanctuary were to be of pure
gold.

2. It is not every one that is fit to be
reproved; Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,v. 6. This may be
considered, either, (1.) As a rule to the disciples in preaching
the gospel; not that they must not preach it to any one who were
wicked and profane (Christ himself preached to publicans and
sinners), but the reference is to such as they found obstinate
after the gospel was preached to them, such as blasphemed it, and
persecuted the preachers of it; let them not spend much time among
such, for it would be lost labour, but let them turn to others,
Acts xiii. 41. So Dr.
Whitby. Or, (2.) As a rule to all in giving reproof. Our zeal
against sin must be guided by discretion, and we must not go about
to give instructions, counsels, and rebukes, much less comforts, to
hardened scorners, to whom it will certainly do no good, but who
will be exasperated and enraged at us. Throw a pearl to a swine,
and he will resent it, as if you threw a stone at him;
reproofs will be called reproaches, as they were
(Luke xi. 45; Jer. vi.
10), therefore give not to dogs and swine (unclean
creatures) holy things. Note, [1.] Good counsel and reproof are a
holy thing, and a pearl: they are ordinances of God, they are
precious; as an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine
gold, so is the wise reprover (Prov. xxv. 12), and a wise reproof is like
an excellent oil (Ps. cxli.
5); it is a tree of life (Prov. iii. 18). [2.] Among the generation of
the wicked, there are some that have arrived at such a pitch of
wickedness, that they are looked upon as dogs and swine; they are
impudently and notoriously vile; they have so long walked in the
way of sinners, that they have sat down in the seat of the
scornful; they professedly hate and despise instruction, and
set it at defiance, so that they are irrecoverably and
irreclaimably wicked; they return with the dog to his vomit,
and with the sow to her wallowing in the mire. [3.] Reproofs
of instruction are ill bestowed upon such, and expose the reprover
to all the contempt and mischief that may be expected from dogs and
swine. One can expect no other than that they will trample the
reproofs under their feet, in scorn of them, and rage against them;
for they are impatient of control and contradiction; and they will
turn again and rend the reprovers; rend their good names with their
revilings, return them wounding words for their healing ones; rend
them with persecution; Herod rent John Baptist for his
faithfulness. See here what is the evidence of men's being
dogs and swine. Those are to be reckoned such, who
hate reproofs and reprovers, and fly in the face of those
who, in kindness to their souls, show them their sin and danger.
These sin against the remedy; who shall heal and help those that
will not be healed and helped? It is plain that God has determined
to destroy such. 2 Chron. xxv.
16. The rule here given is applicable to the
distinguishing, sealing ordinances of the gospel; which must not be
prostituted to those who are openly wicked and profane, lest holy
things be thereby rendered contemptible, and unholy persons be
thereby hardened. It is not meet to take the children's bread,
and cast it to the dogs. Yet we must be very cautious whom we
condemn as dogs and swine, and not do it till after trial, and upon
full evidence. Many a patient is lost, by being thought to be so,
who, if means had been used, might have been saved. As we must take
heed of calling the good, bad, by judging all
professors to be hypocrites; so we must take heed of calling the
bad, desperate, by judging all the wicked to be
dogs and swine. [4.] Our Lord Jesus is very tender of
the safety of his people, and would not have them needlessly to
expose themselves to the fury of those that will turn again and
rend them. Let them not be righteous over much, so as to
destroy themselves. Christ makes the law of self-preservation one
of his own laws, and precious is the blood of his subjects
to him.

The Sermon on the Mount.

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye
shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For
every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and
to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is
there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give
good things to them that ask him?

Our Saviour, in the foregoing chapter, had
spoken of prayer as a commanded duty, by which God is honoured, and
which, if done aright, shall be rewarded; here he speaks of it as
the appointed means of obtaining what we need, especially grace to
obey the precepts he had given, some of which are so displeasing to
flesh and blood.

I. Here is a precept in three words to the
same purport, Ask, Seek, Knock (v. 7); that is, in one word, "Pray; pray
often; pray with sincerity and seriousness; pray, and pray again;
make conscience of prayer, and be constant in it; make a business
of prayer, and be earnest in it. Ask, as a beggar asks
alms." Those that would be rich in grace, must betake themselves to
the poor trade of begging, and they shall find it a thriving trade.
"Ask; represent your wants and burthens to God, and refer
yourselves to him for support and supply, according to his promise.
Ask as a traveller asks the way; to pray is to enquire of
God, Ezek. xxxvi. 37.
Seek, as for a thing of value that we have lost, or as the
merchantman that seeks goodly pearls. Seek by prayer,Dan. ix. 3. Knock, as
he that desires to enter into the house knocks at the door." We
would be admitted to converse with God, would be taken into his
love, and favour, and kingdom; sin has shut and barred the door
against us; by prayer, we knock; Lord, Lord, open to us.
Christ knocks at our door (Rev.
iii. 20; Cant. v. 2); and allows us to knock at his,
which is a favour we do not allow to common beggars. Seeking and
knocking imply something more than asking and praying. 1. We must
not only ask but seek; we must second our prayers
with our endeavors; we must, in the use of the appointed means,
seek for that which we ask for, else we tempt God.
When the dresser of the vineyard asked for a year's respite for the
barren fig-tree, he added, I will dig about it, Luke xiii. 7, 8. God gives knowledge
and grace to those that search the scriptures, and wait at Wisdom's
gates; and power against sin to those that avoid the occasions of
it. 2. We must not only ask, but knock; we must come
to God's door, must ask importunately; not only pray, but
plead and wrestle with God; we must seek diligently; we must
continue knocking; must persevere in prayer, and in the use of
means; must endure to the end in the duty.

II. Here is a promised annexed: our
labour in prayer, if indeed we do labour in it, shall not be
in vain: where God finds a praying heart, he will be found a
prayer-hearing God; he shall give thee an answer of peace.
The precept is threefold, ask, seek, knock; there is
precept upon precept; but the promise is sixfold, line
upon line, for our encouragement; because a firm belief of the
promise would make us cheerful and constant in our obedience. Now
here,

1. The promise is made, and made so as
exactly to answer the precept, v.
7. Ask, and it shall be given you; not lent you,
not sold you, but given you; and what is more free than
gift? Whatever you pray for, according to the promise, whatever you
ask, shall be given you, if God see it fit for you, and what
would you have more? It is but ask and have; ye have not,
because ye ask not, or ask not aright: what is not worth
asking, is not worth having, and then it is worth nothing.
Seek, and ye shall find, and then you do not lose
your labour; God is himself found of those that seek him,
and if we find him we have enough. "Knock, and it shall be
opened; the door of mercy and grace shall no longer be shut
against you as enemies and intruders, but opened to you as friends
and children. It will be asked, who is at the door? If you
be able to say, a friend, and have the ticket of promise ready to
produce in the hand of faith, doubt not of admission. If the door
be not opened at the first knock, continue instant in
prayer; it is an affront to a friend to knock at his
door, and then go away; though he tarry, yet wait."

2. It is repeated, v. 8. It is to the same purport, yet
with some addition. (1.) It is made to extend to all that pray
aright; "Not only you my disciples shall receive what you pray for,
but every one that asketh, receiveth, whether Jew or
Gentile, young or old, rich or poor, high or low, master or
servant, learned or unlearned, they are all alike welcome to the
throne of grace, if they come in faith: for God is no
respecter of persons." (2.) It is made so as to amount to a
grant, in words of the present tense, which is more than a promise
for the future. Every one that asketh, not only shall
receive, but receiveth; by faith, applying and appropriating
the promise, we are actually interested and invested in the good
promised: so sure and inviolable are the promises of God, that they
do, in effect, give present possession: an active believer enters
immediately, and makes the blessings promised his own. What have we
in hope, according to the promise, is as sure, and should be as
sweet, as what we have in hand. God hath spoken in his
holiness, and then Gilead is mine, Manasseh mine
(Ps. cviii. 7, 8); it is
all mine own, if I can but make it so by believing it so.
Conditional grants become absolute upon the performance of the
condition; so here, he that asketh, receiveth. Christ hereby
puts his fiat to the petition; and he having all power, that
is enough.

3. It is illustrated, by a similitude taken
from earthly parents, and their innate readiness to give their
children what they ask. Christ appeals to his hearers, What man
is there of you, though never so morose and ill-humoured,
whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?v. 9, 10. Whence he
infers (v. 11), If
ye then, being evil, yet grant your children's requests,
much more will your heavenly Father give you the good things you
ask. Now this is of use,

(1.) To direct our prayers and
expectations. [1.] We must come to God, as children to a Father
in heaven, with reverence and confidence. How naturally does a
child in want or distress run to the father with its complaints;
My head, my head; thus should the new nature send us to God
for supports and supplies. [2.] We must come to him for good
things, for those he gives to them that ask him; which
teaches us to refer ourselves to him; we know not what is good for
ourselves (Eccl. vi. 12),
but he knows what is good for us, we must therefore leave it with
him; Father, thy will be done. The child is here supposed to
ask bread, that is necessary, and a fish, that is
wholesome; but if the child should foolishly ask for a
stone, or a serpent, for unripe fruit to eat, or a sharp
knife to play with, the father, though kind, is so wise as to deny
him. We often ask that of God which would do us harm if we had it;
he knows this, and therefore does not give it to us. Denials in
love are better than grants in anger; we should have been undone
ere this if we had had all we desired; this is admirably well
expressed by a heathen, Juvenal, Sat. 10.

Permittes ipsis expendere numinibus, quid

Conveniat nobis, rebusque sit utile nostris,

Nam pro jucundis aptissima quæque dabunt dii.

Carior est illis homo, quam sibi: nos animorum

Impulsu, et cæca, magnaque cupidine ducti,

Conjugium petimus, partumque uxoris; at illis

Notum est, qui pueri, qualisque futura sit uxor.

Entrust thy fortune to the powers above.

Leave them to manage for thee, and to grant

What their unerring wisdom sees thee want:

In goodness, as in greatness, they excel;

Ah, that we lov'd ourselves but half so well!

We, blindly by our headstrong passions led,

Seek a companion, and desire to wed;

Then wish for heirs: but to the gods alone

Our future offspring and our wives are known.

(2.) To encourage our prayers and
expectations. We may hope that we shall not be denied and
disappointed: we shall not have a stone for bread, to
break our teeth (though we have a hard crust to employ our teeth),
nor a serpent for a fish, to sting us; we have reason
indeed to fear it, because we deserve it, but God will be better to
us than the desert of our sins. The world often gives stones for
bread, and serpents for fish, but God never does; nay,
we shall be heard and answered, for children are by their parents.
[1.] God has put into the hearts of parents a compassionate
inclination to succour and supply their children, according to
their need. Even those that have had little conscience of duty, yet
have done it, as it were by instinct. No law was ever thought
necessary to oblige parents to maintain their legitimate children,
nor, in Solomon's time, their illegitimate ones. [2.] He has
assumed the relation of a Father to us, and owns us for his
children; that from the readiness we find in ourselves to relieve
our children, we may be encouraged to apply ourselves to him for
relief. What love and tenderness fathers have are from him; not
from nature but from the God of nature; and therefore they must
needs be infinitely greater in himself. He compares his concern for
his people to that of a father for his children (Ps. ciii. 13), nay, to that of a mother,
which is usually more tender, Isa. lxvi. 13; xlix. 14, 15.
But here it is supposed, that his love, and tenderness, and
goodness, far excel that of any earthly parent; and therefore it is
argued with a much more, and it is grounded upon this
undoubted truth, that God is a better Father, infinitely better
than any earthly parents are; his thoughts are above theirs.
Our earthly fathers have taken care of us; we have taken care of
our children; much more will God take care of his; for they are
evil, originally so; the degenerate seed of fallen Adam; they have
lost much of the good nature that belonged to humanity, and among
other corruptions, have that of crossness and unkindness in them;
yet they give good things to their children, and they
know how to give, suitably and seasonably; much more
will God, for he takes up when they forsake, Ps. xxvii. 10. And, First, God is more
knowing; parents are often foolishly fond, but God is wise,
infinitely so; he knows what we need, what we desire, and what is
fit for us. Secondly, God is more kind. If all the
compassions of all the tender fathers in the world were crowded
into the bowels of one, yet compared with the tender mercies of
our God, they would be but as a candle to the sun, or a drop to
the ocean. God is more rich, and more ready to give to his children
than the fathers of our flesh can be; for he is the Father of our
spirits, an ever-loving, ever-living Father. The bowels of Fathers
yearn even towards undutiful children, towards prodigals, as
David's toward Absalom, and will not all this serve to silence
disbelief?

The Sermon on the Mount.

12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that
men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law
and the prophets. 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for
wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth
to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way,
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Our Lord Jesus here presses upon us that
righteousness towards men which is an essential branch of true
religion, and that religion towards God which is an essential
branch of universal righteousness.

I. We must make righteousness our rule, and
be ruled by it, v.
12. Therefore, lay this down for your principle,
to do as you would be done by; therefore, that you may conform to
the foregoing precepts, which are particular, that you may not
judge and censure others, go by this rule in general; (you would
not be censured, therefore do not censure), Or that you may have
the benefit of the foregoing promises. Fitly is the law of justice
subjoined to the law of prayer, for unless we be honest in our
conversation, God will not hear our prayers, Isa. i. 15-17; lviii. 6, 9; Zech.
vii. 9, 13. We cannot expect to receive good
things from God, if we do not fair things, and that
which is honest, and lovely, and of good report among
men. We must not only be devout, but honest, else our devotion is
but hypocrisy. Now here we have,

1. The rule of justice laid down;
Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do you even so to
them. Christ came to teach us, not only what we are to know and
believe, but what we are to do; what we are to do, not only toward
God, but toward men; not only towards our fellow-disciples, those
of our party and persuasion, but towards men in general, all with
whom we have to do. The golden rule of equity is, to do to others
as we would they should do to us. Alexander Severus, a heathen
emperor, was a great admirer of this rule, had it written upon the
walls of his closet, often quoted it in giving judgment, honoured
Christ, and favoured Christians for the sake of it. Quod tibi,
hoc alteri—do to others as you would they should do to you.
Take it negatively (Quod tibi fieri non vis, ne alteri
feceris), or positively, it comes all to the same. We must not
do to others the evil they have done us, nor the evil which they
would do to us, if it were in their power; nor may we do that which
we think, if it were done to us, we could bear contentedly, but
what we desire should be done to us. This is grounded upon that
great commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
As we must bear the same affection to our neighbour that we would
have borne to ourselves, so we must do the same good offices. The
meaning of this rule lies in three things. (1.) We must do that to
our neighbour which we ourselves acknowledge to be fit and
reasonable: the appeal is made to our own judgment, and the
discovery of our judgment is referred to that which is our own will
and expectation, when it is our own case. (2.) We must put other
people upon the level with ourselves, and reckon we are as much
obliged to them, as they to us. We are as much bound to the duty of
justice as they, and they as much entitled to the benefit of it as
we. (3.) We must, in our dealings with men, suppose ourselves in
the same particular case and circumstances with those we have to do
with, and deal accordingly. If I were making such a one's bargain,
labouring under such a one's infirmity and affliction, how should I
desire and expect to be treated? And this is a just supposition,
because we know not how soon their case may really be ours: at
least we may fear, lest God by his judgments should do to us as we
have done to others, if we have not done as we would be done
by.

2. A reason given to enforce this rule;
This is the law and the prophets. It is the summary of that
second great commandment, which is one of the two, on which hang
all the law and the prophets, ch. xxii. 40. We have not this in so
many words, either in the law or the prophets, but it
is the concurring language of the whole. All that is there said
concerning our duty towards our neighbour (and that is no little)
may be reduced to this rule. Christ has here adopted it into this
law; so that both the Old Testament and the New agree in
prescribing this to us, to do as we would be done by. By this rule
the law of Christ is commended, but the lives of Christians are
condemned by comparing them with it. Aut hoc non evangelium,
authi non evangelici.—Either this is not the gospel, or these are
not Christians.

II. We must make religion our business, and
be intent upon it; we must be strict and circumspect in our
conversation, which is here represented to us as entering in at a
strait gate, and walking on in a narrow way,v. 13, 14. Observe
here,

1. The account that is given of the bad way
of sin, and the good way of holiness. There are but two ways, right
and wrong, good and evil; the way to heaven, and the way to hell;
in the one of which we are all of us walking: no middle place
hereafter, no middle way now: the distinction of the children of
men into saints and sinners, godly and ungodly, will swallow up all
to eternity.

Here is, (1.) An account given us of the
way of sin and sinners; both what is the best, and what is the
worst of it.

[1.] That which allures multitudes into it,
and keeps them in it; the gate is wide, and the way broad,
and there are many travellers in that way. First, "You will
have abundance of liberty in that way; the gate is wide, and
stands wide open to tempt those that go right on their way. You may
go in at this gate with all your lusts about you; it gives no check
to your appetites, to your passions: you may walk in the way of
your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; that gives room
enough." It is a broad way, for there is nothing to hedge in
those that walk in it, but they wander endlessly; a broad
way, for there are many paths in it; there is choice of sinful
ways, contrary to each other, but all paths in this broad
way. Secondly, "You will have abundance of company in
that way: many there be that go in at this gate, and walk in
this way." If we follow the multitude, it will be to do
evil: if we go with the crowd, it will be the wrong way. It is
natural for us to incline to go down the stream, and do as the most
do; but it is too great a compliment, to be willing to be damned
for company, and to go to hell with them, because they will not go
to heaven with us: if many perish, we should be the more
cautious.

[2.] That which should affright us all from
it is, that it leads to destruction. Death, eternal death,
is at the end of it (and the way of sin tends to it),—everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord. Whether it be the
high way of open profaneness, or the back way of close hypocrisy,
if it be a way of sin, it will be our ruin, if we repent not.

(2.) Here is an account given us of the way
of holiness.

[1.] What there is in it that frightens
many from it; let us know the worst of it, that we may sit down and
count the cost. Christ deals faithfully with us, and tells us,

First, That the gate is
strait. Conversion and regeneration are the gate, by
which we enter into this way, in which we begin a life of faith and
serious godliness; out of a state of sin into a state of grace we
must pass, by the new birth, John
iii. 3, 5. This is a strait gate, hard to find,
and hard to get through; like a passage between two rocks,
1 Sam. xiv. 4. There must
be a new heart, and a new spirit, and old things must
pass away. The bent of the soul must be changed, corrupt habits
and customs broken off; what we have been doing all our days must
be undone again. We must swim against the stream; much opposition
must be struggled with, and broken through, from without, and from
within. It is easier to set a man against all the world than
against himself, and yet this must be in conversion. It is a
strait gate, for we must stoop, or we cannot go in at it; we
must become as little children; high thoughts must be brought down;
nay, we must strip, must deny ourselves, put off the world, put
off the old man; we must be willing to forsake all for our
interest in Christ. The gate is strait to all, but to some
straiter than others; as to the rich, to some that have been long
prejudiced against religion. The gate is strait; blessed be
God, it is not shut up, nor locked against us, nor kept with a
flaming sword, as it will be shortly, ch. xxv. 10.

Secondly, That the way is
narrow. We are not in heaven as soon as we have got through the
strait gate, nor in Canaan as soon as we have got through
the Red Sea; no, we must go through a wilderness, must travel a
narrow way, hedged in by the divine law, which is
exceedingly broad, and that makes the way narrow; self
must be denied, the body kept under, corruptions mortified, that
are as a right eye and a right hand; daily
temptations must be resisted; duties must be done that are against
our inclination. We must endure hardness, must wrestle and be in an
agony, must watch in all things, and walk with care and
circumspection. We must go through much tribulation. It is
hodos tethlimmene—an afflicted way, a way
hedged about with thorns; blessed be God, it is not hedged up. The
bodies we carry about with us, and the corruptions remaining in us,
make the way of our duty difficult; but, as the understanding and
will grow more and more sound, it will open and enlarge, and grow
more and more pleasant.

Thirdly, The gate being so strait
and the way so narrow, it is not strange that there are but
few that find it, and choose it. Many pass it by, through
carelessness; they will not be at the pains to find it; they are
well as they are, and see no need to change their way. Others look
upon it, but shun it; they like not to be so limited and
restrained. Those that are going to heaven are but few, compared to
those that are going to hell; a remnant, a little flock, like the
grape-gleanings of the vintage; as the eight that were saved in the
ark, 1 Pet. iii. 20. In
vitia alter alterum trudimus; Quomodo ad salutem revocari potest,
quum nullus retrahit, et populus impellit—In the ways of vice men
urge each other onward: how shall any one be restored to the path
of safety, when impelled forwards by the multitude, without any
counteracting influence? Seneca, Epist. 29. This
discourages many: they are loth to be singular, to be solitary; but
instead of stumbling at this, say rather, If so few are going to
heaven, there shall be one the more for me.

[2.] Let us see what there is in this way,
which, notwithstanding this, should invite us all to it; it
leads to life, to present comfort in the favour of God,
which is the life of the soul; to eternal bliss, the hope of which,
at the end of our way, should reconcile us to all the difficulties
and inconveniences of the road. Life and godliness are put together
(2 Pet. i. 3); The gate
is strait and the way narrow and up-hill, but one hour in
heaven will make amends for it.

2. The great concern and duty of every one
of us, in consideration of all this; Enter ye in at the strait
gate. The matter is fairly stated; life and death, good and
evil, are set before us; both the ways, and both the ends: now let
the matter be taken entire, and considered impartially, and then
choose you this day which you will walk in; nay, the matter
determines itself, and will not admit of a debate. No man, in his
wits, would choose to go to the gallows, because it is a smooth,
pleasant way to it, nor refuse the offer of a palace and a throne,
because it is a rough, dirty way to it; yet such absurdities as
these are men guilty of, in the concerns of their souls. Delay not,
therefore; deliberate not any longer, but enter ye in at the
strait gate; knock at it by sincere and constant prayers
and endeavors, and it shall be opened; nay, a wide door
shall be opened, and an effectual one. It is true, we can neither
go in, nor go on, without the assistance of divine grace; but it is
as true, that grace is freely offered, and shall not be wanting to
those that seek it, and submit to it. Conversion is hard work, but
it is needful, and, blessed be God, it is not impossible if we
strive, Luke xiii. 24.

The Sermon on the Mount.

15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you
in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree
bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil
fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither
can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every
tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into
the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know
them.

We have here a caution against false
prophets, to take heed that we be not deceived and imposed upon
by them. Prophets are properly such as foretel things to
come; there are some mentioned in the Old Testament, who pretended
to that without warrant, and the event disproved their pretensions,
as Zedekiah, 1 Kings xxii.
11, and another Zedekiah, Jer. xxix. 21. But prophets did also
teach the people their duty, so that false prophets here are
false teachers. Christ being a Prophet and a Teacher come from
God, and designing to send abroad teachers under him, gives
warning to all to take heed of counterfeits, who, instead of
healing souls with wholesome doctrine, as they pretend, would
poison them.

They are false teachers and false
prophets, 1. Who produce false commissions, who pretend to have
immediate warrant and direction from God to set up for
prophets, and to be divinely inspired, when they are not so.
Though their doctrine may be true, we are to beware of them
as false prophets. False apostles are those who say they
are apostles, and are not (Rev. ii.
2); such are false prophets. "Take heed of those
who pretend to revelation, and admit them not without sufficient
proof, lest that one absurdity being admitted, a thousand follow."
2. Who preach false doctrine in those things that are essential to
religion; who teach that which is contrary to the truth as it is
in Jesus, to the truth which is accordingly to
godliness. The former seems to be the proper notion of
pseudo-propheta, a false or pretending
prophet, but commonly the latter falls in with it; for who
would hang out false colours, but with design, under pretence of
them, the more successfully to attack the truth. "Well, beware of
them, suspect them, try them, and when you have discovered their
falsehood, avoid them, have nothing to do with them. Stand upon
your guard against this temptation, which commonly attends the days
of reformation, and the breakings out of divine light in more than
ordinary strength and splendour." When God's work is revived, Satan
and his agents are most busy. Here is,

I. A good reason for this caution,
Beware of them, for they are wolves in sheep's
clothing, v.
15.

1. We have need to be very cautious,
because their pretences are very fair and plausible, and such as
will deceive us, if we be not upon our guard. They come in
sheep's clothing, in the habit of prophets, which was
plain and coarse, and unwrought; they wear a rough garment to
deceive, Zech. xiii. 4.
Elijah's mantle the Septuagint calls he melote—a
sheep-skin mantle. We must take heed of being imposed upon by
men's dress and garb, as by that of the scribes, who desire to
walk in long robes, Luke xx.
46. Or it may be taken figuratively; they pretend to be
sheep, and outwardly appear so innocent, harmless, meek, useful,
and all that is good, as to be excelled by none; they feign
themselves to be just men, and for the sake of their clothing are
admitted among the sheep, which gives them an opportunity of doing
them a mischief ere they are aware. They and their errors are
gilded with the specious pretences of sanctity and devotion. Satan
turns himself into an angel of light, 2 Cor. xi. 13, 14. The enemy has horns
like a lamb (Rev. xiii.
11); faces of men, Rev. ix. 7, 8. Seducers in language and
carriage are soft as wool, Rom. xvi. 18; Isa. xxx. 10.

2. Because under these pretensions their
designs are very malicious and mischievous; inwardly they are
ravening wolves. Every hypocrite is a goat in
sheep's clothing; not only not a sheep, but the worst enemy the
sheep has, that comes not but to tear and devour, to scatter the
sheep (John x. 12), to
drive them from God, and from one another, into crooked paths.
Those that would cheat us of any truth, and possess us with error,
whatever they pretend, design mischief to our souls. Paul calls
them grievous wolves, Acts xx.
29. They raven for themselves, serve their own
belly (Rom. xvi. 18),
make a prey of you, make a gain of you. Now since it is so easy a
thing, and withal so dangerous, to be cheated, Beware of false
prophets.

II. Here is a good rule to go by in this
caution; we must prove all things (1 Thess. v. 21), try the spirits
(1 John iv. 1), and here we
have a touchstone; ye shall know them by their fruits,v. 16-20.
Observe,

1. The illustration of this comparison, of
the fruit's being the discovery of the tree. You cannot always
distinguish them by their bark and leaves, nor by the spreading of
their boughs, but by their fruits ye shall know them. The
fruit is according to the tree. Men may, in their professions, put
a force upon their nature, and contradict their inward principles,
but the stream and bent of their practices will agree with them.
Christ insists upon this, the agreeableness between the fruit and
the tree, which is such as that, (1.) If you know what the tree is,
you may know what fruit to expect. Never look to gather grapes
from thorns, nor figs from thistles; it is not in their nature
to produce such fruits. An apple may be stuck, or a bunch of grapes
may hang, upon a thorn; so may a good truth, a good word or action,
be found in a bad man, but you may be sure it never grew there.
Note, [1.] Corrupt, vicious, unsanctified hearts are like thorns
and thistles, which came in with sin, are worthless, vexing, and
for the fire at last. [2.] Good works are good fruit, like
grapes and figs, pleasing to God and profitable to men. [3.] This
good fruit is never to be expected from bad men, and more
than a clean thing out of an unclean: they want an
influencing acceptable principle. Out of an evil
treasure will be brought forth evil things. (2.) On the
other hand, if you know what the fruit is, you may, by that,
perceive what the tree is. A good tree cannot bring forth evil
fruit; and a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit,
nay, it cannot but bring forth evil fruit. But then that
must be reckoned the fruit of the tree which it brings forth
naturally and which is its genuine product—which it brings forth
plentifully and constantly and which is its usual product. Men are
known, not by particular acts, but by the course and tenour of
their conversation, and by the more frequent acts, especially those
that appear to be free, and most their own, and least under the
influence of external motives and inducements.

2. The application of this to the false
prophets.

(1.) By way of terror and threatening
(v. 19); Every
tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down. This very
saying John the Baptist had used, ch. iii. 10. Christ could have spoken
the same sense in other words; could have altered it, or given it a
new turn; but he thought it no disparagement to him to say the same
that John had said before him; let not ministers be ambitious of
coining new expressions, nor people's ears itch for novelties; to
write and speak the same things must not be grievous, for it is
safe. Here is, [1.] The description of barren trees; they are trees
that do not bring forth good fruit; though there be fruit,
if it be not good fruit (though that be done, which for the
matter of it is good, if it be not done well, in a right manner,
and for a right end), the tree is accounted barren. [2.] The doom
of barren trees; they are, that is, certainly they shall be,
hewn down, and cast into the fire; God will deal with them
as men use to deal with dry trees that cumber the ground: he will
mark them by some signal tokens of his displeasure, he will bark
them by stripping them of their parts and gifts, and will cut them
down by death, and cast them into the fire of
hell, a fire blown with the bellows of God's wrath, and fed with
the wood of barren trees. Compare this with Ezek. xxxi. 12, 13; Dan. iv. 14;
John xv. 6.

(2.) By way of trial; By their fruits ye
shall know them.

[1.] By the fruits of their persons,
their words and actions, and the course of their conversation. If
you would know whether they be right or not, observe how they live;
their works will testify for them or against them. The scribes and
Pharisees sat in Moses's chair, and taught the law, but they were
proud, and covetous, and false, and oppressive, and therefore
Christ warned him disciples to beware of them and of their
leaven, Mark xii.
38. If men pretend to be prophets and are immoral, that
disproves their pretensions; those are no true friends to the
cross of Christ, whatever they profess, whose God is their
belly, and whose mind earthly things, Phil. iii. 18, 19. Those are not taught
nor sent of the holy God, whose lives evidence that they are led by
the unclean spirit. God puts the treasure into earthen vessels, but
not into such corrupt vessels: they may declare God's statutes, but
what have they to do to declare them?

[2.] By the fruits of their
doctrine; their fruits as prophets: not that this is the only way,
but it is one way, of trying doctrines, whether they be of
God or not. What do they tend to do? What affections and
practices will they lead those into, that embrace them? If the
doctrine be of God, it will tend to promote serious piety,
humility, charity, holiness, and love, with other Christian graces;
but if, on the contrary, the doctrines these prophets preach have a
manifest tendency to make people proud, worldly, and contentious,
to make them loose and careless in their conversations, unjust or
uncharitable, factious or disturbers of the public peace; if it
indulge carnal liberty, and take people off from governing
themselves and their families by the strict rules of the narrow
way, we may conclude, that this persuasion comes not of him
that calleth us, Gal. v.
8. This wisdom is from above, James iii. 15. Faith and a good
conscience are held together, 1 Tim. i. 19; iii. 9. Note, Doctrines
of doubtful disputation must be tried by graces and duties of
confessed certainty: those opinions come not from God that lead to
sin: but if we cannot know them by their fruits, we must
have recourse to the great touchstone, to the law, and to the
testimony; do they speak according to that rule?

The Sermon on the Mount.

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will
of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in
thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful
works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew
you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24 Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will
liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was
founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the
rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat
upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the
people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught
them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

We have here the conclusion of this long
and excellent sermon, the scope of which is to show the
indispensable necessity of obedience to the commands of Christ;
this is designed to clench the nail, that it might fix in a sure
place: he speaks this to his disciples, that sat at his feet
whenever he preached, and followed him wherever he went. Had he
sought his own praise among men, he would have said, that was
enough; but the religion he came to establish is in power, not in
word only (1 Cor. iv. 20),
and therefore something more is necessary.

I. He shows, by a plain remonstrance, that
an outward profession of religion, however remarkable, will not
bring us to heaven, unless there be a correspondent conversation,
v. 21-23. All
judgment is committed to our Lord Jesus; the keys are put into his
hand; he has power to prescribe new terms of life and death, and to
judge men according to them: now this is a solemn declaration
pursuant to that power. Observe here,

1. Christ's law laid down, v. 21. Not every one that
saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, into the
kingdom of grace and glory. It is an answer to that question,
Ps. xv. 1. Who shall
sojourn in thy tabernacle?—the church militant; and who
shall dwell in thy holy hill?—the church triumphant. Christ
here shows,

(1.) That it will not suffice to say,
Lord, Lord; in word and tongue to own Christ for our Master,
and to make addresses to him, and professions of him accordingly:
in prayer to God, in discourse with men, we must call Christ,
Lord, Lord; we say well, for so he is
(John xiii. 13); but can
we imagine that this is enough to bring us to heaven, that such a
piece of formality as this should be so recompensed, or that he who
knows and requires the heart should be so put off with shows for
substance? Compliments among men are pieces of civility that are
returned with compliments, but they are never paid as real
services; and can they then be of an account with Christ? There may
be a seeming importunity in prayer, Lord, Lord: but if
inward impressions be not answerable to outward
expressions, we are but as sounding brass and a tinkling
cymbal. This is not to take us off from saying, Lord,
Lord; from praying, and being earnest in prayer, from
professing Christ's name, and being bold in professing it, but from
resting in these, in the form of godliness, without the
power.

(2.) That it is necessary to our happiness
that we do the will of Christ, which is indeed the will
of his Father in heaven. The will of God, as
Christ's Father, is his will in the gospel, for there he is
made known, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: and in
him our Father. Now this is his will, that we believe in Christ,
that we repent of sin, that we live a holy life, that we love
one another. This is his will, even our sanctification. If we
comply not with the will of God, we mock Christ in calling him
Lord, as those did who put on him a gorgeous robe, and said,
Hail, King of the Jews. Saying and doing are two things,
often parted in conversation of men: he that said, I go,
sir, stirred never a step (ch. xxi. 30); but these two things
God has joined in his command, and let no man that
puts them asunder think to enter into the kingdom
of heaven.

2. The hypocrite's plea against the
strictness of this law, offering other things in lieu of obedience,
v. 22. The plea is
supposed to be in that day, that great day, when every man
shall appear in his own colours; when the secrets of all hearts
shall be manifest, and among the rest, the secret pretences
with which sinners now support their vain hopes. Christ knows the
strength of their cause, and it is but weakness; what they now
harbour in their bosoms, they will then produce in arrest of
judgment to stay the doom, but it will be in vain. They put in
their plea with great importunity, Lord, Lord; and with
great confidence, appealing to Christ concerning it; Lord,
does thou not know, (1.) That we have prophesied in thy
name? Yes, it may be so; Balaam and Caiaphas were overruled to
prophesy, and Saul was against his will among the prophets,
yet that did not save them. These prophesied in his
name, but he did not send them; they only made use of his
name to serve a turn. Note, A man may be a preacher, may have gifts
for the ministry, and an external call to it, and perhaps some
success in it, and yet be a wicked man; may help others to heaven,
and yet come short himself. (2.) That in thy name we have cast
out devils? That may be too; Judas cast out devils, and
yet was a son of perdition. Origen says, that in his time so
prevalent was the name of Christ to cast out devils, that
sometimes it availed when named by wicked Christians. A man might
cast devils out of others, and yet have a devil, nay, be a
devil himself. (3.) That in thy name we have done many wonderful
works. There may be a faith of miracles, where there is no
justifying faith; none of that faith which works by love and
obedience. Gifts of tongues and healing would recommend men to the
world, but it is real holiness or sanctification that is accepted
of God. Grace and love are a more excellent way than
removing mountains, or speaking with the tongues of men
and of angels, 1 Cor. xiii. 1,
2. Grace will bring a man to heaven without working
miracles, but working miracles will never bring a man to heaven
without grace. Observe, That which their heart was upon, in doing
these works, and which they confided in, was the wonderfulness of
them. Simon Magus wondered at the miracles (Acts viii. 13), and therefore would give any
money for power to do the like. Observe, They had not many good
works to plead: they could not pretend to have done many gracious
works of piety and charity; one such would have passed better in
their account than many wonderful works, which availed not
at all, while they persisted in disobedience. Miracles have now
ceased, and with them this plea; but do not carnal hearts still
encourage themselves in their groundless hopes, with the like vain
supports? They think they shall go to heaven, because they have
been of good repute among professors of religion, have kept fasts,
and given alms, and have been preferred in the church; as if this
would atone for their reigning pride, worldliness, and sensuality;
and want of love to God and man. Bethel is their confidence
(Jer. xlviii. 13), they
are haughty because of the holy mountain (Zeph. iii. 11); and boast that they are
the temple of the Lord, Jer.
vii. 4. Let us take heed of resting in external
privileges and performances, lest we deceive ourselves, and
perish eternally, as multitudes do, with a lie in our right
hand.

3. The rejection of this plea as frivolous.
The same that is the Law-Maker (v. 21) is here the Judge according to
that law (v. 23), and
he will overrule the plea, will overrule it publicly; he will
profess to them with all possible solemnity, as sentence is
passed by the Judge, I never knew you, and therefore
depart from me, ye that work iniquity.—Observe, (1.) Why,
and upon what ground, he rejects them and their plea—because they
were workers for iniquity. Note, It is possible for men to
have a great name for piety, and yet to be workers of
iniquity; and those that are so will receive the greater
damnation. Secret haunts of sin, kept under the cloak of a
visible profession, will be the ruin of the hypocrites. Living in
known sin nullifies men's pretensions, be they ever so specious.
(2.) How it is expressed; I never knew you; "I never owned
you as my servants, no, not when you prophesied in my
name, when you were in the height of your profession, and
were most extolled." This intimates, that if he had ever known
them, as the Lord knows them that are his, had ever owned
them and loved them as his, he would have known them, and owned
them, and loved them, to the end; but he never did
know them, for he always knew them to be hypocrites, and
rotten at heart, as he did Judas; therefore, says he, depart
from me. Has Christ need of such guests? When he came in the
flesh, he called sinners to him (ch. ix. 13), but when he shall come
again in glory, he will drive sinners from him. They
that would not come to him to be saved, must depart
from him to be damned. To depart from Christ is the very
hell of hell; it is the foundation of all the misery of the damned,
to be cut off from all hope of benefit from Christ and he
mediation. Those that go no further in Christ's service than a bare
profession, he does not accept, nor will he own them in the great
day. See from what a height of hope men may fall into the depth of
misery! How they may go to hell, by the gates of heaven! This
should be an awakening word to all Christians. If a preacher, one
that cast out devils, and wrought miracles, be disowned of
Christ for working iniquity; what will become of us, if we
be found such? And if we be such, we shall certainly be
found such. At God's bar, a profession of religion will not bear
out any man in the practice and indulgence of sin; therefore let
every one that names the name of Christ, depart from all
iniquity.

II. He shows, by a parable, that hearing
these sayings of Christ will not make us happy, if we do not make
conscience of doing them; but that if we hear them and do them, we
are blessed in our deed, v. 24-27.

1. The hearers of Christ's word are here
divided into two sorts; some that hear, and do what they hear;
others that hear and do not. Christ preached now to a mixed
multitude, and he thus separates them, one from the other,
as he will at the great day, when all nations shall be gathered
before him. Christ is still speaking from heaven by his word
and Spirits, speaks by ministers, by providences, and of those that
hear him there are two sorts.

(1.) Some that hear his sayings and do
them: blessed be God that there are any such, though
comparatively few. To hear Christ is not barely to give him the
hearing, but to obey him. Note, It highly concerns us all to do
what we hear of the saying of Christ. It is a mercy that we
hear his sayings: Blessed are those ears, ch. xiii. 16, 17. But, if
we practise not what we hear, we receive that grace in
vain. To do Christ's sayings is conscientiously
to abstain from the sins that he forbids, and to perform the duties
that he requires. Our thoughts and affections, our words and
actions, the temper of our minds, and the tenour of our lives, must
be conformable to the gospel of Christ; that is the doing he
requires. All the sayings of Christ, not only the laws he
has enacted, but the truths he has revealed, must be done by us.
They are a light, not only to our eyes, but to our
feet, and are designed not only to inform our judgments,
but to reform our hearts and lives: nor do we indeed believe
them, if we do not live up to them. Observe, It is not enough to
hear Christ's sayings, and understand them,
hear them, and remember them, hear them, and talk of
them, repeat them, dispute for them; but we must hear, and
do them. This do, and thou shalt live. Those only
that hear, and do, are blessed (Luke xi. 28; John xiii. 17), and
are akin to Christ. ch. xii.
50.

(2.) There are others who hear
Christ's sayings and do them not; their religion rests in
bare hearing, and goes no further; like children that have the
rickets, their heads swell with empty notions, and indigested
opinions, but their joints are weak, and they heavy and listless;
they neither can stir, nor care to stir, in any good duty; they
hear God's words, as if they desired to know his
ways, like a people that did righteousness, but they will
not do them, Ezek.
xxxiii. 30, 31; Isa. lviii. 2. Thus they deceive
themselves, as Micah, who thought himself happy, because he had a
Levite to be his priest, though he had not the Lord to be his God.
The seed is sown, but it never comes up; they see their spots in
the glass of the word, but wash them off, Jam. i. 22, 24. Thus they put a cheat upon
their own souls; for it is certain, if our hearing be not the means
of our obedience, it will be the aggravation of our disobedience.
Those who only hear Christ's sayings, and do them
not, sit down in the midway to heaven, and that will never
bring them to their journey's end. They are akin to Christ only by
the half-blood, and our law allows not such to inherit.

2. These two sorts of hearers are here
represented in their true characters, and the state of their case,
under the comparison of two builders; one was wise, and
built upon a rock, and his building stood in a storm; the
other foolish, and built upon the sand, and his
building fell.

Now, (1.) The general scope of this parable
teaches us that the only way to make sure work for our souls and
eternity is, to hear and do the sayings of the Lord Jesus,
these sayings of his in this sermon upon the mount, which is
wholly practical; some of them seem hard sayings to flesh and
blood, but they must be done; and thus we lay up in store a good
foundation for the time to come (1
Tim. vi. 19); a good bond, so some read it; a
bond of God's making, which secures salvation upon gospel-terms,
that is a good bond; not one of our own devising, which
brings salvation to our own fancies. They make sure the good
part, who, like Mary, when they hear the word of Christ, sit
at his feet in subjection to it: Speak, Lord, for thy
servant heareth.

(2.) The particular parts of it teach us
divers good lessons.

[1.] That we have every one of us a house
to build, and that house is our hope for heaven. It ought to be our
chief and constant care, to make our calling and election
sure, and so we make our salvation sure; to secure a title to
heaven's happiness, and then to get the comfortable evidence of it;
to make it sure, and sure to ourselves, that when we fail,
we shall be received into everlasting habitations. Many
never mind this: it is the furthest thing from their thoughts; they
are building for this world, as if they were to be here always, but
take no care to build for another world. All who take upon them a
profession of religion, profess to enquire, what they shall do
to be saved; how they may get to heaven at last, and may have a
well-grounded hope of it in the mean time.

[2.] That there is a rock provided
for us to build this house upon, and that rock is Christ. He
is laid for a foundation, and other foundation can no man
lay, Isa. xxviii. 16; 1
Cor. iii. 11. He is our Hope, 1 Tim. i. 1. Christ in us is so; we must
ground our hopes of heaven upon the fulness of Christ's merit, for
the pardon of sin, the power of his Spirit, for the sanctification
of our nature, and the prevalency of his intercession, for the
conveyance of all that good which he has purchased for us. There is
that in him, as he is made known, and made over, to us in
the gospel, which is sufficient to redress all our grievances,
and to answer all the necessities of our case, so that he is a
Saviour to the uttermost. The church is built upon this
Rock, and so is every believer. He is strong and immovable as a
rock; we may venture our all upon him, and shall not be made
ashamed of our hope.

[3.] That there is a remnant, who by
hearing and doing the sayings of Christ, build their hopes
upon this Rock; and it is their wisdom. Christ is our only
Way to the Father, and the obedience of faith is our only
way to Christ: for to them that obey him, and to
them only, he becomes the Author of eternal
salvation. Those build upon Christ, who having sincerely
consented to him, as their Prince and Saviour, make it their
constant care to conform to all the rules of his holy religion, and
therein depend entirely upon him for assistance from God, and
acceptance with him, and count every thing but loss and
dung that they may win Christ, and be found in him. Building
upon a rock requires care and pains: they that would make
their calling and election sure, must give diligence.
They are wise builders who begin to build so as they may be
able to finish (Luke xiv.
30), and therefore lay a firm foundation.

[4.] That there are many who profess that
they hope to go to heaven, but despise this Rock, and build
their hopes upon the sand; which is done without much pains,
but it is their folly. Every thing besides Christ is sand. Some
build their hopes upon their worldly prosperity, as if they were a
sure token of God's favour, Hos. xii.
8. Others upon their external profession of religion,
the privileges they enjoy, and the performances they go through in
that profession, and the reputation they have got by it. They are
called Christians, were baptized, go to church, hear Christ's word,
say their prayers, and do nobody any harm, and, if they perish, God
help a great many! This is the light of their own fire, which they
walk in; this is that, upon which, with a great deal of assurance,
they venture; but it is all sand, too weak to bear such a fabric
as our hopes of heaven.

[5.] That there is a storm coming, that
will try what our hopes are bottomed on; will try every man's
work (1 Cor. iii. 13);
will discover the foundation, Hab. iii. 13. Rain, and floods, and wind,
will beat upon the house; the trial is sometimes in this world;
when tribulation and persecution arise because of the word,
then it will be seen, who only heard the word, and who heard and
practiced it; then when we have occasion to use our hopes, it will
be tried whether they were right, and well-grounded, or not.
However, when death and judgment come, then the storm comes, and it
will undoubtedly come, how calm soever things may be with us now.
Then every thing else will fail us but these hopes, and then, if
ever, they will be turned into everlasting fruition.

[6.] That those hopes which are built upon
Christ the Rock will stand, and will stand the builder in stead
when the storm comes; they will be his preservation, both from
desertion, and from prevailing disquiet. His profession will not
wither; his comforts will not fail; they will be his strength and
song, as an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast. When he
comes to the last encounter, those hopes will take off the terror
of death and the grave; will carry him cheerfully through that dark
valley; will be approved by the Judge; will stand the test of the
great day; and will be crowned with endless glory, 2 Cor. i. 12; 2 Tim. iv. 7,
8. Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he
comes, finds so doing, so hoping.

[7.] That those hopes which foolish
builders ground upon any thing but Christ, will certainly fail them
on a stormy day; will yield them no true comfort and satisfaction
in trouble, in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment; will
be no fence against temptations to apostacy, in a time of
persecution. When God takes away the soul, where is the hope of
the hypocrite? Job xxvii.
8. It is as the spider's web, and as the
giving up of the ghost. He shall lean upon his house, but it
shall not stand, Job viii. 14,
15. It fell in the storm, when the builder had most need
of it, and expected it would be a shelter to him. It fell when it
was too late to build another: when a wicked man dies, his
expectation perishes; then, when he thought it would have been
turned into fruition, it fell, and great was the fall of it.
It was a great disappointment to the builder; the shame and loss
were great. The higher men's hopes have been raised, the lower they
fall. It is the sorest ruin of all that attends formal professors;
witness Capernaum's doom.

III. In the two last verses, we are told what
impressions Christ's discourse made upon the auditory. It was an
excellent sermon; and it is probable that he said more than is here
recorded; and doubtless the delivery of it from the mouth of him,
into whose lips grace was poured, did mightily set if off. Now, 1.
They were astonished at this doctrine; it is to be feared
that few of them were brought by it to follow him: but for the
present, they were filled with wonder. Note, It is possible for
people to admire good preaching, and yet to remain in ignorance and
unbelief; to be astonished, and yet not sanctified. 2. The reason
was because he taught them as one having authority, and not as
the scribes. The scribes pretended to as much authority as any
teachers whatsoever, and were supported by all the external
advantages that could be obtained, but their preaching was mean,
and flat, and jejune: they spake as those what were not themselves
masters of what they preached: the word did not come from them with
any life or force; they delivered it as a school-boy says his
lesson; but Christ delivered his discourse, as a judge gives his
charge. He did indeed, dominari in conscionibus—deliver his
discourses with a tone of authority; his lessons were law; his
word a word of command. Christ, upon the mountain, showed more true
authority, than the scribes in Moses's seat. Thus when Christ
teaches by his Spirit in the soul, he teaches with authority. He
says, Let there be light, and there is light.